Tasty Thursdays

I have close friend who is a sous chef at a nice little restaurant in Yorkville who is currently working on a chef's certificate from George Brown. Our friendship began when I was looking for someone to bake with. I heard that he made awesome cookies, so I decided to ask him to teach me. Our friendship continues to grow because of our love for food and our fascination with how flavours blend together to create something tasty. I talk about the nerdy science-related background of food (ie food science and nutrition), and he talks about cooking techniques as well as ways to bring out flavours.

The more we talk about food, the more I realize that there is a HUGE gap between those who have the knowledge in nutrition and those who have the skills and talents to create tasty meals. In school we are always taught that there needs to be a multidisciplinary team to help treat patients, so I hope that one day the gap between Chefs and Dietitians/Nutritionists will become smaller.

The best thing about having a friend who is in a Chef's certificate program is that he is always cooking and baking. This means that I am pretty much a walking guinea pig. He experiments, I eat it, critique it, and we talk about ways to perfect his dish.

Every Thursday he will cook me dinner using a vegetable that I have never tasted. It's fun for me because I get to try new foods and I get fed, and he is able to challenge himself. One night I asked him to make me something with brussel sprouts. Growing up I would always hear horror stories about terrible brussel sprouts tasted, so I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. I challenged my friend to make a full meal where every dish had to include brussel sprouts (can you tell that I watch too much Iron Chef?!), and the next thing I know, I'm sitting there on his couch eating Brussel Sprout Vanilla Pudding with a hint of Lemon and honestly...it was tasty!

It's not only fun to learn about flavours and cooking techniques, I think it can also play a role in counselling patients who need to make minor dietary changes. It is always easier to counsel people on healthy eating when you can imagine the taste and texture of foods. I use to get frustrated with people who refused to eat minced/pureed foods until I tried it myself. If given the opportunity, I would take cooking classes so that I could learn how flavours blend together, as well as learn cooking techniques that can be used to help people with respect to healthier cooking techniques.

People often say that eating healthy means eating bland, boring foods. This is not the case. If we, as future Dietitians/Nutritionists, learn how to use flavours and cooking techniques in creating tasty, yet healthy meals, we would be able to work with people's diets and teach them how they can incorporate their dietary needs/concerns with foods that they love.